Will Access To Health Insurance For My Sick Wife Be Better After 2014?
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader on if access to good health insurance will be better for his sick wife after 2014.
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Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader on if access to good health insurance will be better for his sick wife after 2014.
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader on if her son with a pre-existing condition will be able to buy health insurance under the new law.
President Barack Obama's surprise signal last week to governors that he was willing to give states some extra flexibility in implementing the law is particularly noteworthy because it offers a useful window into the health law' s evolving politics and the future bargaining that will likely take place.
CMS analysis shows that some regions with high spending levels are below the national average if patient health and special expenses are factored in.
These new plans cut out insurance policies and offer unlimited access to doctors and nurse practitioners for a modest, set fee.
Federal law does not guarantee beneficiaries under the age of 65 the right to buy Medigap coverage and even when they do qualify for a plan, it is often prohibitively expensive.
Despite the rhetoric about compromise, what President Barack Obama actually did when he announced that states would have some flexibility in implementing the health law was give states the option of replacing his law with a single-payer health system three years earlier than it otherwise could have happened.
Addressing the current system by which physician payment is determined is a challenge that demands attention beyond the physician community. It will take the influence of businesses and patient advocates who bear the brunt of the nation's skyrocketing health care costs.
What truly undermines the arguments offered by conservative critics is their lack of workable alternative ideas that would achieve the health insurance coverage expansion goals set by the health law.
Some insurers are offering consumers a hefty break if they pay more out-of-pocket when they use certain high-cost providers in their network or are cutting the providers from the coverage.
Consumers are increasingly expected to manage their complex regimens but that is especially challenging for those who don't have the ability to comprehend health information.
Medicaid is the rope in the current tug of war between the states and the federal government over health reform. So far, the feds think they are winning. But don't discount the governors.
A Maryland program to curb hospital infection rates is showing signs of success, but nine hospitals still fell short last year and were penalized a total of $2.1 million.
As challenges to the health law's individual mandate wind their way through the courts, it is important to focus on the real question: what happens to the health law if this provision is ultimately struck down?
As Congress wrestles with medical liability reform, more than 40 years of experience with California's cap on non-economic damages offers evidence that this approach is an effective way to achieve the goal of reducing health care costs while preserving sufficient deterrence in the legal system.
Some patient advocates, as well as the nursing home industry, object to using managed care for such vulnerable patients, but health plans say they can provide quality services while holding down costs.
Many people do not take drugs as directed-skipping doses, taking the wrong number of pills or taking them at the wrong time of day. Poor adherence results in millions of dollars of medical expenses each year.
The president chose to submit a profoundly unserious budget. There's no entitlement reform to close the long-term fiscal gap. There's no tax reform. There are some minor cuts to marginal programs for show. But, overall, it's very much a business-as-usual budget, with a few new and expensive long-term commitments thrown in for good measure. It's like the president and his team woke up after the mid-term election with a bad case of political amnesia.
One of the lesser-known provisions of the new health law calls for federal loans to help fund health cooperatives. Scott Armstrong, the CEO of Group Health, says that co-ops can improve patient care and contain costs.
The nation's leaders must slog through the complexities and ideologies of the current political landscape in order to craft solutions that will shore up the American safety net and protect its weakest citizens.
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